


Shyren's Song

by Dragonsrule18



Series: Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Backstory, Developing Friendships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Frisk (Undertale), Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Frisk (Undertale) Is a Sweetheart, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Pre-Undertale, Pre-Undertale Pacifist Route, Shyren And Aaron Are Friends, Shyren Centric, So is Aaron, Spoilers - Undertale Pacifist Route, Teenage Frisk (Undertale), Verbal Frisk (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsrule18/pseuds/Dragonsrule18
Summary: Shyren had always loved to sing, and with her big sister's support, she felt she could do anything. But after her sister fell down, her dreams were stolen away. But the friendship of a flirty but kindhearted centaur and a supportive human girl might be just what she needs to find her voice again. Set in my Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION AU, but can be read alone.
Relationships: Shyren & Aaron, Shyren & Frisk, Shyren & Her sister
Series: Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959127
Kudos: 11
Collections: All The Undertale Floof





	Shyren's Song

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago as a small prequel oneshot for Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION that goes deeper into the lives of Shyren and Aaron, showing their backstories with their siblings, how their friendship started, and how they're coping. I finally decided to finish it and post it today. I hope you enjoy! And while this is set in the Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION universe, it can be read alone, and you don't need to know anything about HDAD to read it.

When no one was watching, Shyren loved to sing.

"They say there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord, but you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composing Hallelujah. Hallelujah...Hallelujah..." she sang loudly with the record player Napstablook had helped her build as she twirled around her room.

"That sounds beautiful, sis." a voice suddenly said from her doorway. Shyren squeaked and jumped before turning to see her big sister, Aria.

"I-I didn't know you were there!" Shyren said nervously. "S-Sorry."

"Hey, no need to be sorry. I just came to call you for dinner. But seriously, Shy, you don't need to hide that voice. You sound great." her sister reassured her.

"What? No I don't...My voice cracks sometimes."

Aria waved it off. "Everyone's does at times. No one's perfect. But practice helps, and you just need to gain some confidence. You love to sing, and you're great at it. I bet you'd be the biggest star in the Underground!"

"I don't know..."

"I do. I think singing is your calling, Shy."

"Are you sure? I mean, I love to sing, but what if I mess up?"

"Like I said before, everyone messes up at times, but sis, you can't let the fear of failure keep you from doing what you love. You just need to believe in yourself and work hard, Shy. Let yourself get lost in the music, and you won't be afraid. And remember, I'll be right there with you, cheering you on."

...

But she wasn't. Six months later, Aria had developed a cough and become lethargic. She slowly grew sicker and sicker until one morning Shyren found her motionless, eyes staring at nothing.

Aria had fallen down.

...

Shyren sobbed as she held her sister's hand as Aria lay comatose in her hospital bed. She sang Aria's favorite songs, hoping that maybe Aria could hear her and just wake up.

"Hey." a voice said softly from the door. Shyren turned to see Aaron standing there. "Any improvement?"

Shyren shook her head with tear filled eyes. "No. You?"

Aaron shook his head sadly with his own tears. His own brother had been involved in a terrible accident when a building had collapsed months ago, and while his injuries had been healed, something had gone wrong and he hadn't woken up. "No." He let out a sad laugh. "I even told him every single one of my most embarrassing rejection stories, hoping he would just wake up to make fun of me and tell me how he could have done so much better with the ladies."

Shyren managed the tiniest laugh. "You know he would have been slapped just as hard as you. Remember the time he tried to flirt with Aria?"

Aaron nodded, smiling a little. "I'm still not sure how she managed to tie him up with his own tail."

"Ari's always been tough." Shyren laughed, but her laughter soon turned to tears. Aaron pulled her into a hug.

"C'mon, I'll buy you some coffee. You need a break." he told her softly and led her out.

...

A few days later, there was a call for all monsters who had fallen down to be brought to Alphys. Both Shyren and Aaron had been upset, but knew what their siblings would have wanted. They let them go with aching souls.

...

Weeks later, Aaron came rushing to Shyren's house. As soon as she opened the door, he hugged her tightly, twirling her around. Shyren yelped and squeaked at the sudden affection, but Aaron for once was too excited to notice. "Shy! Dr. Alphys did it! They're alive!"

"What?!" Shryen gasped as Aaron set her down on her feet again.

He was smiling even wider than normal. "They're okay! Dr. Alphys has to keep them for a few more days to make sure, but then they can come home! I got to talk to Ryan and he says he feels great. It's like he never even got hurt!"

Shyren burst into happy tears and hugged Aaron as best she could, surprising him as she rarely ever initated physical affection with anyone. "Ari's alive...I'll get to see her again..."

...

But she hadn't.

Days and then months passed and no word from Alphys. Shyren, Aaron, and the families of the other fallen monsters sent dozens of letters and called Alphys thousands of times.

No response.

"What the hell is wrong?!" Aaron growled as he set down the phone. "Why won't she answer our calls?!"

Shyren was shaking with tears in her eyes. "What if they're gone, Aaron? What if it only worked for a short time and Dr. Alphys just couldn't bring herself to tell us?"

"Well, she fucking should!" Aaron yelled though his anger wasn't directed at Shyren. "How does she expect us to live in limbo like this, Shy?! I don't know if Ry's sick or hurt or dust and she doesn't even have the decency to give us one damn call! I tried to go to the lab, but it was locked, and I know she was home, but she wouldn't speak to me!" He sat down, head in his hands. "I just want to know what happened. I want my brother back..."

"I know. I want Aria back too." Shyren whispered. She sat next to Aaron and tried to comfort him, feeling just as helpless as she did by her sister's bedside.

...

More time passed.

The families of the fallen monsters started to give up hope on seeing their family members alive again. A memorial service was held for them. Shyren tried to sing a song for her sister, but her voice cracked, then she broke down and cried in front of everyone. Before Aaron could reach her to comfort her, she fled.

...

Even without Aria and Ryan, time continued on. Shyren and Aaron tried to get along with their lives. Aaron used his muscles to make deliveries and in time, started to flirt with everyone like he used to, though he still came over often to check on Shyren. Napstablook and their cousin also tried to be there for her, but then the cousin disappeared to follow their own dreams, leaving Napstablook and Shyren behind.

When she wasn't working, Shyren threw herself into practicing her singing, the memory of her sister's words driving her to at least try to go for her dreams like Aria had wanted. She even found a talent agent, though she was just as scared of being on the stage as she was before.

And then the human came(though she didn't know what she was until later when Aaron accidentally let it slip), having stumbled into the area and overhearing Shryen's conversation with her agent about her upcoming concert. Shyren had been terrified about singing in public, but her agent encouraged her and even got the human in on the act. The brown haired girl said she'd love to hear her sing and smiled at her like Aria had once had, making Shyren's soul ache.

"I-I'm not really that good...I...I might screw up...My voice cracks sometimes..." Shyren stammered.

"Trust me, any singing you do, even on your worst day, will be way better than mine. I sound like nails on a chalkboard when I try to sing. So don't worry." the girl reassured her with a small laugh.

"You'll do great, child. Trust me, I wouldn't be your agent if I didn't know you had an amazing voice." Shyren's agent told her.

With this encouragement, Shyren hesitantly nodded. "A-All right. What do you want me to sing?"

"Hmm...there's this cool song I heard on the radio several times...I don't remember the title fully, I think it's like Wake Me Up or something, but I do remember how it goes." the human said.

"C-Can you sing the first few lines to me?" Shyren asked softly.

The brunette now looked nervous. "Maybe...Maybe I'd better just say it. Trust me, I can't sing."

"I'm sure your voice can't that bad." the agent said.

"It-It'll make me feel better if you sing too." Shyren told her, then was worried she was asking for too much.

She reluctantly nodded. "Okay, but please don't sue me for eardrum damage." she joked before starting to sing. Shyren was shocked when she realized the human was singing Aria's favorite song, well, sort of. The other girl hadn't been lying when she said her voice didn't exactly sound good. "Feeeeeling my waaay through the daaaarkneeesss, guided by a beeaating heeeaart..." Everyone winced, including the human.

"It, um, wasn't that bad..." Shyren said, trying to make her feel better.

She waved her hand dismissively with a soft laugh. "You can say it sucked."

"Okay, it kind of sucked." Shyren admitted, feeling bad about it. "But I know that song. It's actually one of my favorites." Feeling like her new friend wouldn't laugh at her gave her some confidence and she began to sing softly. "Feeling my way through the darkness...guided by a beating heart..." She became lost in the music, almost feeling like Aria there with her as she sang her sister's favorite song.

Unfortunately, Shyren had forgotten that when her voice was at its full power, it could become an attack, so as she got into the song, glowing white music notes shot from her mouth, striking the other girl and making her yelp.

Shyren gasped and immediately stopped singing as her agent rushed over to check on the girl. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

The girl nodded shakily. "Yeah, I'm fine." Thankfully, the attack had only taken a few HP as Shyren didn't mean to hit her and had no intention of hurting her, and Shyren's attacks were solely magic and didn't deal any physical damage to the body, not even a bruise. "Don't worry, it was just an accident." Shyren still felt awful, but her new friend just smiled as if she hadn't just been hit in the soul. "Still way better than my singing."

"At least your voice doesn't almost kill your audience." Shyren muttered.

"Aim into the air when you sing." her agent advised. "It won't hit anyone and it would make a stunning visual effect."

Still, it took a few more minutes for both of them to convince Shyren to sing again, but after making sure she was aiming where she couldn't hit anyone, she began to sing again, starting from where she left off.

Shyren closed her eyes, losing herself once again in the music. She could practically hear Aria's voice join in and see her sister dancing next to her. In the magic of the moment, she never saw the other monsters of Waterfall come into the room.

It was only when she hummed the last few notes of the song and opened her eyes that she realized they were surrounded. She let out a frightened "Eep!"and jumped off her agent, quickly hiding behind the the other girl, who had frozen mid dance step and turned bright red.

And then cheers and clapping filled the room. Shyren kept hiding, afraid and embarrassed.

"Encore!" a Moldsmal cried.

"Shyren! Shyren! Shyren!" Aaron chanted, giving her a wide smile. This of course got everyone else started in chanting Shyren's name. Her soul pounded nervously. Her body felt clammy. Despite the support, all she wanted to do was run away. She tried to stay behind her new friend, but the girl stepped aside to stand beside her, giving a supportive smile.

Just like Aria would have done.

"There's so many people..." Shyren whispered, hiding her face behind her long hair.

"They love you, Shyren. Trust me, your voice is AMAZING." the girl whispered to her. "You have nothing to worry about. Just relax. Imagine the audience in their underwear."

Shyren blinked, confused by the weird advice. "...What?"

The girl blushed. "...Never mind. Try doing what we were doing earlier. Just sing and get lost in the music, and trust me, you won't be afraid." She gave Shyren a smile and Shyren shyly smiled back. Aaron nodded approvingly, giving them a thumbs up.

"Can-Can you stay, just for one more song?" Shyren asked softly, knowing she would feel more confident with both her old friend in the front row and with her new friend by her side.

The brunette smiled. "Of course."

"Do Best Day Of My Life, Shy!" Aaron called from the front. Shyren's eyes lit up, knowing Aaron knew it was her absolute favorite song.

The other girl's eyes lit up too. "Ooh, that's a good one!" She started softly humming it, slightly better than she had sang, and looked at Shyren expectantly, clearly encouraging her to join in.

And Shyren did, hesitantly at first, then with more confidence. "I had a dream so big and loud; I jumped so high I touched the clouds...whoah oh oh oh oh..." The monsters cheered, and Aaron got up, winked at their new friend, and started dancing to get her and everyone else to join in. Several of the others joined in, and the human danced gracefully beside her, her steps perfectly in time to the beat of the song. Shyren smiled as she continued to sing.

Even though she still missed her sister and wished she could be here to see this, she was truly happy.

Just as Aria would want her to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review and let me know what you think! I might write a second chapter once the Underground Arc of Hopes, Dreams, And DETERMINATION reaches its conclusion about Shyren and Aaron getting their siblings back and starting their life on the surface.


End file.
